Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
a form of writing that falls between field notes and final reports or articles
(with formal articles and publications linked to the blog or Web page).
Writing is part of the analysis process as well as a means of communication
(see alsoAtkinson & Hammersley, 2007). Writing clarifies thinking. In sitting
down to put thoughts on paper, an individual must organize those thoughts and
sort out the specific ideas and relationships. Writing often reveals gaps in
knowledge. If the researcher is still in the field when he or she discovers those
gaps,theresearcherneedstoconductadditionalinterviewsandobservationsof
specificsettings.Iftheethnographerisacollaborativeresearcher,heorshemight
share Web-based word processing and spreadsheet documents with community
members. This enables community members to edit and cowrite ethnographic
insights and findings. This places a check on the ethnographer's interpretation
and promotes collaboration (community building). With an Arkansas tobacco
prevention project, I use an interactive spreadsheet to manage incoming data
concerning numbers of people who quit smoking and how this translates into
dollars saved in terms of excess medical expenses. Data collection for this proj-
ectisiterativeandacollaborativeexperience.Iftheresearcherhasleftthefield,
field notes, e-mails (including digital photographs), and telephone calls must
suffice (unless the researcher also usesWeb-based documents and shares them
with community members after leaving the field).
Embryonic ideas often come to maturity during writing, as the ethnogra-
pher crystallizes months of thought on a particular topic. From conception—
as a twinkle in the ethnographer's eye—to delivery in the final report, an
ethnographic study progresses through written stages.A brief review of some
of the milestones in the ethnographic life cycle highlights the significance of
writing in ethnography. (For additional discussions of ethnographic writing,
see Madison, 2005; O'Reilly, 2005; Wolcott, 2008a, 2008b. SeeVan Maanen,
1988, for some of the rhetorical and narrative devices used in ethnographic
work, including realist, confessional, and impressionist tales.)
RESEARCH PROPOSALS
The ethnographer's ideas have their first expression in the research proposal.
There are significant differences between action, policy, and investigatory
research proposals. However, they have one thing in common: a sponsor.
Sponsors judge the quality of the design; the significance of the problem; the
methodology, including analysis; and the budget—all of which must be com-
municated in writing.The magnitude of a specific problem and the sophistica-
tion of research tools can be described in myriad ways. Only a few approaches,
however, will compete favorably with other deserving proposals. Sponsors are
